Home Affairs' new TTOS sees over 11 000 tourists processed
According to Tourism Update , the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) recently revealed that a total of 11 144 tourists have been processed through the platform since it was established in February this year.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber also reported that the volume of daily TTOS applications had grown from an average of 50 in March 2025 to 210 in May 2025.
The DHA said that the TTOS currently grants 65 approved tour operators access to a digital platform where they are allowed to submit and receive visa outcomes for tour groups from both China and India.
Johan Groenewald, one of these approved tour operators for India, highlighted a 'vast improvement' in visa processing through the TTOS.
'It is efficient and fast and the DHA is keeping to its commitment to process within a maximum five working days,' Groenewald said as per Tourism Update .
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
34 minutes ago
- IOL News
Mining industry raises alarm over ferrochrome export tax as electricity tariffs receive nod
Chrome mining has been one of the best-performing subsectors of the South African mining sector, with data from Statistics SA showing that chrome production increased by an average of 8.4% between 1994 and 2024 on an inflation adjusted basis. Image: Supplied Tawanda Karombo The Minerals Council of South Africa has raised concerns over the approval by government of an export tax on ferrochrome concentrates and welcomed the Cabinet's adoption of preferential electricity tariffs for ferrochrome smelters. Chrome mining has been one of the best-performing subsectors of the South African mining sector, with data from Statistics SA showing that chrome production increased by an average of 8.4% between 1994 and 2024 on an inflation adjusted basis. This reflects an accelerated pace of growth than the 1.3% recorded for non-gold production in South Africa over the same period. It was against this backdrop that the Minerals Council on Thursday said it was concerned by the approval by Cabinet of an export tax on ferrochrome concentrates. 'A particular concern in the Cabinet statement is the approval of the concept of an export tax on chrome concentrate. There remains no reason why export taxes would support increased beneficiation in South Africa now,' said the Council in a statement. The tax has previously been raised by government but extensive engagements with the chrome mining sector players resulted in the proposal being set aside. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ South Africa's chrome mining sector, said the Minerals Council, has consistently contributed to employment, with export volumes of the mineral topping 20.5 million tons in 2024. South Africa earned R84.6 billion in export revenue from chrome last year. Despite this employment and export earning potential, South African producers are increasingly mothballing chrome smelters, citing high electricity costs that are rendering them poorly competitive in the face of stiff competition from Chinese smelters. China has been able to offer its chrome smelters incentives, including lower electricity costs. South African producers have also recently battled erratic electricity supply although the government has moved in to address this by approving a preferential tariff for ferroalloy smelters. 'As a consequence of electricity prices increasing by nearly 900% in the past two decades, South Africa's chrome industry has opted to export chrome concentrate rather than beneficiate it at a loss.' The Minerals Council has welcome the Cabinet announcement on preferential electricity tariffs for ferrochrome smelters. This forms part of the government's measures in addressing the key factors that has rendered South Africa's ferrochrome industry uncompetitive. The use of Special Economic Zones to give the industry tax breaks has also been described as welcome. However, the mining industry employers' organisation said 'the details remain lacking, requiring extensive consultations with the government to understand these proposals and which industries will benefit' from the measures. 'To the extent that it prevents illegal exports of chrome, the Minerals Council welcomes the proposal to require all chrome exporters to obtain permits from the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa,' said the Council. 'However, we would strongly oppose any suggestion that such a system be expanded or used to impose export quotas or restrictions on legally mined chrome.' South Africa, a major mining hub in the region, has identified platinum, manganese, iron ore, coal, and chrome ore as 'high-critical minerals' under the new Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy. It has also classified commodities such as gold, vanadium, palladium, rhodium, and rare earth elements as minerals with moderate to high criticality while copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite, nickel, titanium, phosphate, fluorspar, zirconium, uranium, and aluminium were identified as minerals with moderate criticality. BUSINESS REPORT
IOL News
2 hours ago
- IOL News
Tongaat Hulett's sugar mills lead South Africa in recovery performance
Sugar cane on its way to be processed at Tongaat Hulett's Maidstone Mill. Tongaat's three South African sugar mills, Maidstone, Amatikulu and Felixton have benefited from substantial capital investment over the past three years, following years of disinvestment. Image: Karen Sandison/Independent Newspapers Tongaat Hulett's (THL) three South African sugar mills, Maidstone, Amatikulu and Felixton, which benefited from capital investment since the group went into business rescue, have ranked as the top three nationally for sugar recovery in the current sugar milling season. The recognition indicates the scale of THL's operational turnaround since entering business rescue in October 2022 - the group said in a statement Thursday its mills were now not only stable, but leading performance across the broader South African sugar sector. Tongaat Hulett CEO Gavin Dalgleish, together with the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), recently met with grower representatives in a series of engagements. These meetings focused on sharing updates about the company's progress under business rescue, as well as the improvements seen across its milling and refining operations. The group's three mills, refinery and animal feed plant, which had previously suffered years of under-investment, benefited from a R1.45 billion capital injection over the past three years, secured through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). 'The result is a marked improvement in operational performance, with cane being crushed much more efficiently and reliably than before and a renewed sense of confidence among growers, staff, and industry partners,' Dalgleish said. The capital upgrades were accompanied by the recruitment of key technical staff and an investment in training and development of employees. 'The investments made were not just in machinery, but also in our people – and the results are clear. Our teams are now less focused on reactive maintenance and more focused on performance improvement. It's this shift in mindset that's powering real, sustainable change,' said Dalgleish. He said these efforts had translated into year-on-year improvements in key production and efficiency metrics for the current milling season. According to independent industry benchmarking, THL's performance in these metrics had placed its mills among the top in the country – exceeding the industry benchmark standards by a greater margin than anyone else, said Dalgleish. The benchmark standards include the recoverable value metric, which measures the value of molasses and sugar recovered from the sugarcane delivered by an individual grower, as well as the crystal recovery efficiency metric, which measures the percentage of sucrose extracted from the cane that is successfully crystallised into marketable sugar. During the meetings, it became clear that growers placed strong value on consistent, high-efficiency milling, and a reliable mill was worth more to them than any other short-term price incentives. 'Any grower would have noticed that the Maidstone mill is certainly performing better than it has in the past decade,' said Pratish Sharma, Senior Maidstone Grower and local SA Canegrowers representative. 'The investments in the mills give us great confidence that we're going to have a mill capable of crushing our crop. That is crucial, because a high-performing mill gives growers the confidence to invest in and expand their own farms,' said Sharma.
The South African
4 hours ago
- The South African
SOLD: Sale of SuperSport United confirmed
SuperSport United have officially been sold to Siwelele Football Club and are waiting for the PSL to approve the deal. This was confirmed in a statement by SuperSport International on Thursday, which added that after a closed bidding process, Siwelele were awarded the rights to purchase the Tshwane side. 'SuperSport International would like to confirm the sale of its Premier Soccer League (PSL) club, SuperSport United, to Siwelele Football Club (Pty) Ltd. 'Following a closed bidding process, Siwelele F.C was awarded the rights to purchase the three-time Premiership winners, pending approval by the PSL Executive Committee. 'The sale of the club comes as SuperSport makes strategic shifts to allow us to remain the biggest broadcaster in Africa and a leading global competitor. Shifts in the market, as well as the need to innovate in accordance with our core business, have necessitated focused direction to allow SuperSport to remain the best sports content provider on the continent and a leader in broadcast innovation,''' said SuperSport CEO, Rendani Ramovha. Siwelele chairman Calvin le John said they are happy to have won the bid to purchase the club. 'As Siwelele FC, we are privileged to have been given the responsibility of continuing with a rich winning tradition in the PSL. SuperSport and the MultiChoice Group laid an incredible 30-year platform that we wish to build upon, should we get the final vote of approval from the PSL executive committee,' Le John said. 'Out of respect for the PSL executive committee's processes, Siwelele F.C, MultiChoice and SuperSport will not be making any further statements pending the decision of the PSL.' Reports suggest that Matsatsantsa were sold for R50 million and will relocate to Bloemfontein in the 2025/26 Betway Premiership season and will be called Siwelele FC. SuperSport United endured a horror 2024/25 Betway Premiership season, finishing 14th and narrowly avoiding the promotion-relegation playoffs. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
